Thomas Jefferson Education

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Or you can see our complete list of products at http://tjed.org/purchase/. ! ! A Thomas Jefferson Education

TEACHING A GENERATION OF LEADERS FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Oliver DeMille Note: This volume is a philosophical overview, and not a step-by-step guide for implementation of the Leadership Education model. For additional help on application, see Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning and the other titles in the Leadership Education Library. The Leadership Education Library

Volume 1: A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the 21st Century Volume 2: Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning Volume 3: A Thomas Jefferson Education Home Companion Volume 4: Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens Volume 5: The Student Whisperer: Inspiring Genius Volume 6: 19 Apps: Leadership Education for College Students

To download an index of the contents of this book, visit TJEd.org/TJEd-Index.

TJEd.org / OliverDeMille.com

Copyright © 2012 by Oliver DeMille. All rights reserved. No part of this pub- lication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher. International rights and foreign translations available only through permission of the publisher.

First paperback edition published in 2000. First hardback edition, revised, published in 2006. Second paperback edition 2009. Third paperback edition 2012.

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of this book, or distribution or publishing questions, should be addressed to [email protected].

Thanks to Julie Earl, Michele Smith, Brad Bolon, Janine Bolon, Rachel DeMille, Tiffany Earl, Shanon Brooks, Tressa Roberts, Andrew Groft, Nels Jensen and Daniel Earley for editorial suggestions. Thanks to Shawn Ercanbrack for sec- tions of chapter ten and the epilogue. The author is responsible for the contents of this book.

Printed in the United States of America.

Cover and book design by Daniel Ruesch Design | danielruesch.net

ICBN 978-0-9830996-6-6 LCCN 2012907883

A Thomas Jefferson Education “TJEd” is a philosophy and a methodology by which great individuals throughout history were educated. Thousands of families and professional educators are applying those same principles today, with astounding success. This new paperback edition includes: ! The 7 Keys of Great Teaching ! The 4 Phases of Learning ! The 5 Environments of Mentoring ! Tips for professional educators ! How to apply Thomas Jefferson Education in a homeschool ! Teaching the classics of math, science, history, the arts, etc. ! Thomas Jefferson Education in college and careers

“As a high school teacher and administrator, I have yearned for a different approach to learning; and Oliver DeMille shows us how education should really take place—with classics and mentors, where students must dig it out for themselves with a little guidance. It may take a whole generation to throw off the bad habits, but let’s get started.”

—EARL TAYLOR, PRINCIPAL HERITAGE ACADEMY, CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL

“I felt like I was reading the Common Sense of the Twenty-first Century, the book that will shape the minds of the leaders.”

—TIFFANY EARL, HOMESCHOOLING MOTHER, FOUNDER OF LEADERSHIP EDUCATION METHODS INSTITUTE

“Oliver DeMille has analyzed history and brilliantly given us, as Abraham Lincoln said, ‘just that knowledge of past men and events which [we] need’ in our lives and schools.”

—VICKI JO ANDERSON, FORMER PRESIDENT ARIZONA CHARTER SCHOOLS ASSOCIATION Contents

ONE Two Towers ...... 1

TWO Education Today ...... 11

THREE Three Systems of Schooling ...... 19

FOUR Mentoring ...... 37

FIVE Classics ...... 57

SIX Great Teaching ...... 69

SEVEN Thomas Jefferson Education in the Public Schools ...... 97

EIGHT Thomas Jefferson Education at College ...... 107

NINE Leadership Careers ...... 115

TEN Statesmanship: Making a Difference in Society . . .127

EPILOGUE A New Golden Age? ...... 137

APPENDICES

A 100 Classics ...... 143

B Classics for Children and Youth ...... 146

C Sample Discussion Questions ...... 151

D Where to Find the Classics ...... 165

E Recommended Readings ...... 167

F Putting Thomas Jefferson Education to Work . . . .169

Notes ...... 192 CHAPTER ONE Two Towers

“Lay down true principles, and adhere to them inflexibly. Do not be frightened into their surrender…” — Thomas Jefferson

“ liver, turn on the radio, now!” There was an urgency I’d seldom heard in Dr. Brooks’ O voice, and he hung up without saying anything else. So I hurried to the radio and switched it on. Frankly, I am not a morning person and had failed to answer his three earlier phone calls. But on the fourth set of long rings, I finally picked it up. We did- n’t have a television in our home—part of a typical summer routine for our family, meant to get us all to study, talk and build rela- tionships instead of waste our family time in front of the set. The radio told of an event that would change the world, and I immediately called Dr. Brooks back and told him to contact the student body and call a campus-wide meeting. It was the morning of September 11, 2001. There is a longing that perhaps we all feel in the beginning decades of the Twenty-first Century. Maybe human beings have always felt it, but something unique seems to be growing and spreading in our world today. Mediocrity, which became the norm and in some circles even the goal between 1968 and 2001, seemed to lose its hold on that tragic morning when the whole

TWO TOWERS 1 world tuned in to watch the Twin Towers fall—over and over and over. Since “9/11,” we now live in a different world. It remains to be seen what the Twenty-first Century holds in store, but we learned a few things on that morning that are valu- able lessons for the future. First, every generation faces its challenges. The modern feeling of invincibility and the view that peace and prosperity are the natural state of things has been brought into question. Most of us are much more painfully aware of just how fragile our enjoyable lifestyle really is. Even the return to normalcy in the years since 9/11 only masks the new sense of vulnerability Americans now feel. The looks on the faces of my students as I walked into the main classroom told me what a shock this really was. The questions were emotional and basic: “How long will it last?” “What can we expect in the days and even years ahead?” “What will this mean to the future of our nation?” “Are all my plans and dreams for the future gone forever?” and “What should I be doing to help?” These young people felt something new that day, something you don’t ever forget. Virtually all who experienced those feelings that morning are deeply changed. They know it could happen again, on any day at any given moment—and they live with that. Moreover, somewhere inside many people actually expect it. The youth of 9/11 are no longer living in a world of Comedy, where we all feel an underlying security that everything will turn out well. We lived through one of those junctures in history when a world of Comedy shifts to Tragedy, and with this on our minds, day after day, week after week, through each holiday season and with every new year, our souls steel with each passing month and our subconscious emotions prepare us for what is ahead. I believe we all feel it on some level—even those who deny it.

Preparing for Leadership “What can I possibly say to these young people?” I wondered, wishing my father were present. He had served in Vietnam, and

2 A THOMAS JEFFERSON EDUCATION seemed to have come home with an ability to face any crisis— evenly and calmly giving brief words of wisdom that soothed and protected. My own experience hadn’t prepared me for this. When the Gulf War began in 1991 I watched in technicolor in a university auditorium and discussed the evils of war with my college classmates. By 2001, the ten years since that event felt like an eternity. In fact, it was an irony that most of the George Wythe College students were supposed to discuss the book Alas Babylon that morning. This modern classic, set during the Cold War, opens on a morning when a nuclear war changes the face of the land and the people who survive. Clearly, reading the book was- n’t anything like the reality of terrorists flying planes into buildings right now—in the real world. I looked into the faces of the students, and wondered what to say. Fortunately, before I opened my mouth Dr. Einar Erickson stood. He probably saw me in the same light as the students: young, shell-shocked, and scared. If so, he was right. Dr. Erickson, who had lived through Pearl Harbor, told of that time over fifty years before. By the time he finished, two things had occurred. First, I think everyone in the room was moved to tears. And second, we were calmed and anchored. Things would work out, there were a lot of decisions ahead for our generation, and there was much work to be done. As students and faculty, we could either ignore these events and escape into campus life, or we could take this head on, realize that great things are going to be asked of our generation, and set out to prepare ourselves to help fill the leadership drought around the world. Dr. Erickson said all the right things. He gave us something to do. He led. When I got the microphone back, I was ready. “At some point in your life,” I said, “you will face a situation where you are in a leadership position and dozens—maybe thousands or millions— look to you to lead. When that occurs, you won’t feel ready. But you will have to lead anyway. Today, we’re going to do something that in all probability isn’t being done anywhere else. We’re going to simulate the Situation Room at the White House today, and we’re going to learn what’s happening.”

TWO TOWERS 3 I assigned each student to a team led by a faculty member and told them they had thirty minutes to find out the positions and names of every person who would likely be advising the President today and to appoint a student to fill each position. Then I gave them one hour to research the person they were role-playing, and to meet back with recommendations for the President. I don’t know if other groups simulated this event that day, but just like Pearl Harbor or Chamberlain’s visit with Hitler, I’m sure it will be simulated by many students at many schools in the years to come. Simulation is a powerful learning tool, and that day was a sober- ing and life-changing experience for all who lived through it. A second lesson of the day is that when crisis comes, we naturally turn to God. Before we broke for our research, one student raised his hand and asked if we could please pray. The room unanimously consented, and another student volunteered to say the prayer. We all felt the enormity of the task our world was facing, and more tears were shed during that prayer. People from many faiths and churches prayed that day in the United States, including many who hadn’t set foot in a church for a long time. Across America, the level of religious observance increased that day. A third lesson from 9/11 is that when crisis hits, we automat- ically look to leadership. As we were preparing to break into groups for research, the door opened and in walked several former students. They were no longer studying at George Wythe College, but when they first heard the news of the terrorist attacks they immediately grabbed a change of clothes, jumped in their vehicles and drove to Cedar City—one student drove five hours and arrived just as we were making plans. Of course, the whole nation looked to President Bush, just as people in other nations looked to their leaders. In crisis, leadership determines direction and our level of success—or failure. Unfortunately, in such times it is too late to prepare leaders. They must be trained, educated, and gain the needed experience before crisis occurs. Yet it is precisely in the years and decades before crisis that peace and prosperity convince the

4 A THOMAS JEFFERSON EDUCATION world that such leadership is not needed—making a living takes hold of society and material goals drive schools, teachers, parents and students alike. Professional training and job skills are all that people seek from “education,” and the concept of leadership education is considered quaint, outdated, frivolous, or absurd. Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind was widely sold, but sparsely read and soundly rejected by a generation of educators. His suggestions, which would have helped prepare a generation of leaders for the Twenty-first Century, were mostly ridiculed or ignored, just as the same suggestions by Jacques Barzun had been disregarded a generation earlier and those of Adler and Hutchins a generation before that. Perhaps in the wake of 9/11, such prophetic warnings will be more closely considered. Certainly the warning signs had been there for over a decade—terrorists were planning attacks on American soil. And in the broader context, a time is soon coming when a generation of leaders will be needed, when a society trained on the mostly narrow or otherwise deficient educational offerings that are now the norm in our nation will not be enough to overcome the challenges we face. This is the fourth lesson of 9/11, which it seems no society ever wants to learn: that we must learn from our past and heed the cycles, trends, and historical patterns that inevitably (in one form or another) repeat themselves. Santayana was right: if we don’t learn the lessons of history, we are doomed to repeat them.

Is Mediocre Education Enough? A fifth lesson is that although wisdom is usually thought to be found in the elderly, in times of challenge it is often the young who provide answers. Many of the older generations, who lived and loved and raised families and went to work every day in a world of peace and prosperity, seem fully addicted to a view that crisis is just a passing fad, that everything will quickly return to normal if we just ignore the depth of the problems. As the months after 9/11 turned into years, adult America was only too happy to

TWO TOWERS 5 go back to “business as usual,” telling itself that maybe this was just a tragic one-time event that has passed and won’t return. The young have no such illusion—they doubt they’ll ever receive a Social Security check, and most of them are sure that serious con- flicts are ahead. Naturally, they seek to prepare themselves—often bewildering their parents who wonder why they don’t just focus on credentials and secure jobs. “As if any job will be secure in my world,” the under-thirty crowd quips. A sixth lesson is that the young are all about one thing: making the world better. They want to do something, not just leave it to others. And with their leadership, a surprising number of the earlier generations join in the cause. A growing cadre of people are aligning their futures with leadership. This is not the “electronic herd” of 1980s yuppie fame or the dot.com millionaire crowd of the 1990s, but a new generation of social entrepreneurs, future societal leaders and statesmen who are convinced that something is happening in the world, that it is time for a new energy, a new direction and new way of doing things. In science, art, health—and just about every other arena—there is a momen- tum building. But the idealism still has to face a glaring reality: in history there have been many such movements, and most of them have failed. Pure and simple. Failed. The ones that succeeded, such as the generation of American Founding, the period of Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi’s successful revolution and Martin Luther King Jr.’s after him, did so in two waves: a wave of great leaders, preceded by a wave of great teachers. These are the two towers of any successful generation.1 Without both, no generation effectively achieves its potential. Without one, the other never materializes. This is the seventh lesson I learned on that fateful day: if we don’t have the education, we cannot expect to have the leadership. Thankfully, national leaders from all political views joined with international statesmen to condemn the terrorist attacks and re-focus the nation. But what if the crisis had been longer and harder, what if it was just the beginning of a period of world destabilization and challenge,

6 A THOMAS JEFFERSON EDUCATION what if the September morning that opened the Twenty-first Century was just the beginning of a long day with many challenges ahead? What if? Do we live in a time after the crisis where we can relax, enjoy, and get back to decades of smooth and routine living? Or are we at the beginning of a century or even a decade of turmoil? More to the point, should we be emphasizing the education of account- ants, movie directors and secretaries, or using the educational years to train a generation of leaders, entrepreneurs, and statesmen? John Adams is credited with saying that he studied government and law so that his children could study math and science and his grandchildren art and literature. Which generation are we? And more importantly, which are our children? As I looked into the eyes of fifty young people on September 11, 2001, I saw a generation of leaders. I also saw a haunting drought of schools teaching leadership or training leaders. I had already written the first edition of A Thomas Jefferson Education (which carries the subtitle: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century), but on that morning it took on new meaning. The question on my mind as I went home exhausted that night was: “Is the education our children are receiving on par with their potential?” It has plagued me ever since. Between that day and this, I have posed this question to tens of thousands of parents, teachers, administrators, legislators and students, and I have seldom received a satisfactory answer. It is time for a change in our educational system.

We Must Do Better It has been over six years since the first edition of A Thomas Jefferson Education was published. Since that time, my wife Rachel and I, as well as a number of dedicated faculty members and scholars at George Wythe College, have spoken in hundreds of venues to tens of thousands of people about the Thomas Jefferson Education (TJEd) model. We have done so on university campuses, private primary and secondary schools, in public elementary and high

TWO TOWERS 7 schools, and at convention centers, country clubs and town halls to professional educators, homeschooling parents, legislators, corporate executives, and interested community members. We have met many wonderful people and seen thousands of them apply the Thomas Jefferson Education principles in their homes, schools and organizations. We have made literally thousands of new friends, and we have watched them improve their own education and pass on a higher level of excitement for learning to their colleagues and children. In short, we have witnessed a small revolution as many families, schools and companies have made drastic educational changes and seen the quality of their learning significantly increase. But it is not enough. “Is the education our children are receiving on par with their potential?” The answer is still a resounding “no.” The current educational system must change. This book is a call to that change. As such, it is obviously both audacious and insufficient. But it is a start. Our children deserve the very best education possible, not the most “realistic.” They need, and want, the highest quality education that exists, not the most practical. To those who criticize the Thomas Jefferson Education model, I have learned to simply ask, “When you look into the eyes of your children and grandchildren, when you picture their greatness and potential, do you feel that they are getting the education that is up to par with who they were born to become?”

Genius in Our Homes Greatness isn’t the work of a few geniuses, it is the purpose of each of us. It is why we were born. Every person you have ever met is a genius. Every one. Some of us have chosen not to devel- op it, but it is there. It is in us. All of us. It is in your spouse. It is in each of your children. You live in a world of geniuses. How can we settle for anything less than the best education? How can we tell our children that mediocre education will do, when greatness is available? Like on the morning of 9/11, other calls will come to

8 A THOMAS JEFFERSON EDUCATION our generation in the years ahead, announcing new challenges and introducing new opportunities. Our generation, and that of our children, will face its share of crises, just like every generation in the past. When those calls come, will we be ready? The answer depends on how we educate the next generation.

TWO TOWERS 9 CHAPTER TWO Education Today

“All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.” —Sir Walter Scott

lmost everyone agrees that modern American education needs to be improved, but almost nobody agrees on what A the “fixes” should be or how they should be implemented. The problems are many and diverse: low test scores, illiteracy in the inner city, violence and crime within the school buildings and grounds, racial tension, moral ambiguity, sexual promiscuity, children raising children, parental non-involvement and neglect, oppressive regulation of teachers, competing agendas from administration and even state and federal programs, the large divide between schools in affluent areas and those in poverty, students who lag behind all other industrial nations in math and science, art and music programs cut due to lack of funding, teaching at the bottom of the professional pay scale, the huge cost of building enough schools to serve the rising generation, and the list could go on. Indeed the so-called debate on education is in its fifth decade, with few solutions, if any, in sight. The truth is that this debate will continue until we realize that it is a fruitless discussion. Education will never be fixed, and in fact it doesn’t need to be fixed. Any effort to “fix education” will fail for

E D U C A T I O N T O D AY 11 two reasons. First, education is so many things to so many people: for some, education means job training, for others it means fixing social problems, still others see education as job security or a source of political clout.2 Americans love education, believe in education and pay big money for education, but few agree on what it is, what it should accomplish, or what methods should be used to achieve it. Second, the problems of education seem varied and complex; but the complexity is a myth, rooted in a modern misconception about education and educators. Education can’t be fixed as long as we believe this basic myth. The myth is that it is possible for one human being to educate another. The fact is that the only person who can fix education is the student. The more popular options—increased funding, bigger schools, vouchers, the proliferation of private or charter schools, more homeschooling, a new initiative by a U.S. President, tougher mandates by Congress—will not and cannot fix education. They may improve it, perhaps even significantly, but only to the extent that individual students determine to educate themselves and then follow through. Teaching, not education, should be our focus,3 because great teaching inspires students to educate themselves. Jacques Barzun made the case for this in the 1960s, but the educational industry moved on without listening. Great teaching will solve our educational problems—in public, private and home schools, and at the pre-school, primary, secondary, university and even corporate training and professional mentoring levels. Find a great teacher, in any of these settings, and you will find a group of students diligently, enthusiastically and effectively educating themselves. Teachers teach and students educate. Students are the only true educators. Historically, every other method of education has failed. Education occurs when students get excited about learning and apply themselves; students do this when they experience great teachers.

12 A THOMAS JEFFERSON EDUCATION Two Types of Teachers There are two types of great teachers which consistently motivate student-driven education: Mentors and Classics. Mentors meet face-to-face with the student, inspiring through the transfer of knowledge, the force of personality, and individual attention. Classics were created by other great teachers to be experienced in books, art, music and other media. Any system of education which attempts to separate the student from these teachers, classics and mentors, will be less inspiring and therefore less effective—fewer students will choose to seek an education; and those who do will be less likely to follow through. As the old saying goes, the best education is a student on one end of a log and Johns Hopkins on the other. Students who spend their afternoons across the log from Plato, Jefferson, Milton, Gandhi, Shakespeare and a caring and nurturing parent or other mentor are almost guaranteed a superb education because they will do the necessary hard work. Too often, however, it seems that so-called educators obscure rather than enlighten the views of these great minds, ignore rather than compare, ridicule rather than read. A generation of students have, like Shakespeare’s Ophelia, turned education over to others: “I do not know, my lord, what I should think,” and a generation of so-called educators have responded like Polonius: “I’ll teach you: think yourself a baby …”4 In this environment, “teach me” has come to mean “enter- tain me,” “tell me what to think and I’ll parrot it back to you,” or “hand it to me on a silver platter.” But none of these are teaching—or learning.

My Children Deserve Better Than This, But This Is All I Know! Without great teaching, through mentors and classics, the most that schools can offer is socialization, which they often defend as

E D U C A T I O N T O D AY 13 Finally, in a burst of creative inspiration, he picked up his crayons and began to draw: A green stem, with two leaves, and four identical pink petals.9 The story is indicative of an entire generation of American education, which has been called “the cloning of the American mind.” Fortunately, the tragedy is not complete because many parents across the nation are reaffirming their role in educating their children.

The Coming Renaissance in Education A renaissance is coming to American education, and frankly homeschoolers are uniquely positioned to take advantage of it. All parents can do it, regardless of the geography of their children’s learning environment, by emphasizing the highest levels of quality and excellence and settling for nothing less in the education of their children. In history, and today, there are three major types of schooling:

1 Conveyor Belt education, which tries to prepare everyone for a job, any job, by teaching them what to think. This includes rudimentary skills designed to fit them to function in society. Most public schools are conveyor belt schools, though there are many excellent teachers in the public system who use leadership methods.

2 Professional education—from apprenticeship and trade schools to law, medical and MBA programs—which creates specialists by teaching them when to think.

3 Leadership education, which I call “Thomas Jefferson Education,” teaches students how to think and prepares them to be leaders in their homes and communities, entrepreneurs in business, and statesmen in government.

THREE SYSTEMS OF SCHOOLING 21 on the part of each student, and real world application of that knowledge in a way that helps others. The two keys to obtaining these are classics and mentors.

The George Wythe Method A good mentor is someone of high moral character who is more advanced than the student and can guide his or her learning. Parents are the natural mentors of children. They can be very effective in getting the student started on a lifetime plan for success, especially if they use some of the key techniques perfected by the great mentors of history. Teachers, professors, coaches, music instructors, employers, neighbors and community leaders can also be good mentors. My favorite model of how to mentor is George Wythe, the mentor of Thomas Jefferson. George Wythe was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He was the first law professor in America, a famous judge, and Chancellor of the State of Virginia. Perhaps his most lasting contribution was as mentor to two future U.S. Presidents, two Supreme Court Justices, and a number of future senators, representatives, governors and judges. Let’s consider how the methods he used can be applied in our modern schools—public, private and home—in order to train leaders for the future. A number of years ago I helped found George Wythe College, and one of my first responsibilities was researching just how Wythe mentored Jefferson. From that intensive research, and years of additional reading and studying, I found Seven Keys of Great Teaching which form the core of great mentoring.

1. Classics, Not Textbooks Thomas Jefferson’s studies with George Wythe were four “years of virtually uninterrupted reading, not only in the law but also in the ancient classics, English literature and general political philosophy. It wasn’t so much an apprenticeship for law as it was an

M E N T O R I N G 39 “But How Do I Actually Do It?” On the one hand, it is good to ask this question because even the best teachers should always seek improvement. For example, Judy Naegle, a former literature teacher in an excellent charter school, Heritage Academy in Mesa, Arizona, attended a Teacher Training seminar at George Wythe College each summer for many years and came each time with new challenges and concerns. She is one of the best teachers I know, and she was constantly seeking to improve—and therefore her students improved their own educational endeavors. I hope that none of us stop asking this question. On the other hand, it concerns me that very often the person asking the question is not just seeking improvement, but really believes that teaching must somehow be more complex, that there must be a trick to it. This is a residual or side effect from the conveyor belt, a trust in experts and the idea that education must be complex to be good. One of the inherent problems with the professorial (as opposed to mentorial) approach to teaching is that the first lesson learned is: “He is the expert; I am the child, the ignorant one.” Degree of knowledge becomes identity—the child has no trust nor respect for the process of learning, because he is seldom familiarized with the process the teacher went through. There is a well-guarded mystique that the teacher somehow just “knows” and a chosen gnostic few will someday “get it.” Most students never witness the labor the master has gone to nor are they schooled in the process- es that bring expertise and mastery. The student learns to label himself, “I’m just no good at math,” or “singing,” as if it were good justification for never applying himself. The mentor who shares her love for learning and willingness to submit to the labor that is the process of acquiring mastery, will communicate the value of persevering through difficulties and trusting that ignorance and confusion must ultimately give way to knowledge and understanding. In fact, education is very, very simple. Teachers set the example by reading, pondering, writing about and discussing classics,

G R E A T T E A C H I N G 71 the essence of teaching. Those who inspire, teach; those who don’t…don’t. The inspiration is a combination of the teacher’s example, hard work, and having the freedom by law and administration to pur- sue excellence in the art of teaching. This is why I insist that the only person who can fix education is the student. The more popular options—increased funding, bigger schools, vouchers, the latest curriculum fad, the proliferation of private or charter schools, more homeschooling, and even well-intentioned federal acts—will not and can not fix American education. They may improve it, perhaps even significantly, but only to the extent that the individual student determines to educate self and then follows through. But few students study until they are inspired. Teaching, not education, must be our focus, because great teaching inspires students to educate themselves. Great teaching will solve our educational problems—in public, charter, private, home, higher, and non-traditional schools. Find a great teacher, in any setting, and you will find a group of students diligently, enthusiastically and effectively educating themselves—in at-risk, inner-city public classrooms as well as elite, private prep schools. In my experience, there is not a grave shortage of passionate individuals in the teaching profession (and indeed who enter the profession, year after year) with the drive, idealism and vision to make a difference in their students’ lives. So, why is our public school system limping along with such universally poor output? The answer: Because we typically put teachers last.

Putting Teachers First What I call “putting teachers first” is desperately needed in our schools. As I visit classrooms in public and private schools in the United States, two things seem to always stand out—the high quality of individuals in the teaching profession and the poor quality of overall education. It’s hardly a secret: there are great teachers in practically every school in the United States. I have

102 A THOMAS JEFFERSON EDUCATION n the next thirty years, certain people will have successful careers and certain people will not. The most important I factor determining which type of career you will have is education. Notice that I didn’t say “diploma” or “degree,” but rather “education.” Your education may literally determine your future. The public, professional and leadership systems train you for very different things. The economy is changing and many so-called experts are saying things like, “In fifteen years, there will be these kinds of jobs; in twenty years there will be those kinds of jobs.” There’s enough variance among opinions that we don’t really have an exact picture, but there is enough similarity in the predictions that we can get a few general ideas. Based on historical and current trends, it appears that: The conveyor belt educated will tend to spend their working years in moderate to low-income production, service and government jobs. Professional school graduates will naturally tend to be in management and the professions, but there will be fewer jobs in these fields in the coming years and those that remain will be less pros- perous. Mid-level management is being downsized and the professions are changing from the independent, lucrative fields they once were to managed, institutionalized, bureaucratic systems with fewer financial or social rewards. Of course, production, service, government, management and professional fields all need leadership, and this will tend to be supplied by those who have learned how to think: analysts, entrepreneurs, decision makers, statesmen.37 Success in any field requires training—formal or informal—in the central principles which govern it. How many successful attorneys are there who never went to law school? Or dentists who never studied dentistry? Or entrepreneurs who never learned the principles of entrepreneurship? Or successful statesmen who never learned statesmanship? The principles of successful leader-

116 A THOMAS JEFFERSON EDUCATION EPILOGUE A New Golden Age?

“By three methods we may learn wisdom. First, by reflection, which is the noblest; second, by imitation, which is the easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest.” —Confucius

uring the sweltering summer of 1787, Benjamin Franklin wondered if the carved sun on the president’s chair at the D Constitutional Convention symbolized a rising sun or a setting sun. The success of the new nation confirmed that it repre- sented America’s rise. Two centuries later, a number of experts in many fields have expressed doubts about America’s future and predicted American decline, including Allan Bloom, Paul Kennedy, Samuel Huntington, Robert Bork, Philip Bobbitt and Thomas Friedman, among others. Will the Twenty-first Century be an American Epilogue, or a new Golden Age? This profound question has yet to be answered. It could go either way. One thing is certain: Tomorrow’s leaders will determine whether the flame of freedom and prosperity lit by American Founders two hundred years ago continues to burn brightly or is extinguished. These leaders are being prepared today. Is their education up to par with their potential? For most of our youth, the answer is

A N E W G O L D E N A G E ? 137 A P P E N D I X A 100 Classics

100 Selections from the George Wythe College Classics List

Acton, The History of Freedom John Adams, “Thoughts on Government” Aquinas, “On Kingship” Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics Aristotle, Politics Aristotle, Rhetoric Augustine, The City of God Aurelius, Meditations Austen, Pride and Prejudice Austen, Sense and Sensibility Bacon, Novum Organum Bastiat, The Law Bastiat, “What is Seen and Not Seen” Benson, “The Proper Role of Government” The Bible Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy Bronte, Wuthering Heights Bronte, Jane Eyre Carson, The American Tradition Capra, The Tao of Physics Chesterton, Orthodoxy Churchill, Collected Speeches Cicero, The Republic Cicero, The Laws Clausewitz, On War Confucius, Analects The Constitution of the United States of America Copernicus, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

1 0 0 C L A S S I C S 143 A P P E N D I X B Classics for Children and Youth

Two lists are presented here, one of classics to read to young children and the second for older youth to read and discuss with their mentors.

To Read to Young Children Aesop’s Fables Andersen’s Fairy Tales Beauty and the Beast The Bible The Blind Men and the Elephant “Casey at Bat” Charlotte’s Web Chicken Little A Christmas Carol Cinderella Dinotopia series Dr. Seuss series The Emperor’s New Clothes The Fourth Wise Man The Gift of the Magi The Giving Tree “God Save the Flag” Goldilocks and the Three Bears The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg Grimm’s Fairy Tales “The Highwayman” Hansel and Gretel Jack and the Beanstock The Legend of Sleepy Hollow “Lincoln, The Man of the People” “Little Boy Blue”

146 A THOMAS JEFFERSON EDUCATION A P P E N D I X C Sample Discussion Questions

This appendix is not a thorough study guide, but rather a brief primer to help beginners start reading and discussing a few classics of literature for themselves. The list emphasizes literature because for most people this is the easiest place to start. It may be helpful to review the questions before reading the given book, take notes as you read and then discuss your answers or write about them after you finish each work. The terms “Bent, Broken, Whole, Healing” are discussed in Chapter Five and may be studied in more detail in The Healing Power of Stories by Daniel Taylor. I highly recommend that you read this fine book, a modern day classic, as you begin your study of the classics.

Austen, Persuasion 1. Many believe that Persuasion is Jane Austen’s best book. Is it? Why or why not? 2. What do you learn about Jane Austen from her stories? 3. Is civility before marriage important? Do Austen’s characters go too far? 4. Is civility after marriage important? Do Austen’s characters go too far? 5. Should Anne have married the first time? Defend your answer. 6. Should Anne have married the second time? Defend your answer. 7. What factors should one weigh in determining whether or not to marry a certain person?

Austen, Pride and Prejudice 1. Compare the Victorian concept of courting with the modern idea of dating. Which is better? Why? List the pros and cons of each.

S A M P L E D I S C U S S I O N Q U E S T I O N S 151 A P P E N D I X F Putting Thomas Jefferson Education to Work

“Anything worth doing well is worth doing poorly—at first.” —Ray Congdon

“Ready, fire, aim.” —Tom Peters

How to Get Started: Months 1-2 This appendix is for beginners, for those who aren’t sure how to get started. If you are already using the TJEd model, or if you are a real self-starter with little need for structure and outside direction, you probably don’t need this appendix; instead, review Chapters Four and Six and start incorporating all the keys to great mentoring and teaching. If you are an administrator, review Chapter Seven. If, on the other hand, you are just starting and need help or have tried to start but just couldn’t seem to make it work, then read on. If you are going to follow this system, follow it closely. Do one step at a time; that is, read one step, then finish it before moving on to the next step.

PUTTING THOMAS JEFFERSON EDUCATION TO WORK 169 Notes

Chapter One

1 See The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien. The reference is also an allusion to the Twin Towers which fell under terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.

Chapter Two

2 Jacques Barzun. 1945. Teacher in America. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund. 7-9. As Dr. Barzun warned as early as 1945: “…Americans believe in Education, because they pay large sums to yield results. At this point one is bound to ask: ‘What results do you expect?’ The replies are staggering. Apparently Education is to do everything that the rest of the world leaves undone. Recall the furore over American History. Under new and better management that subject was to produce patriots—nothing less. An influential critic, head of a large university, wants education to generate a classless society; another asks that education root out racial intolerance (in the third or the ninth grade, I wonder?); still another requires that college courses be designed to improve labor relations. One man, otherwise sane, thinks the solution of the housing problem has bogged down—in the schools; and another proposes to make the future house holders happy married couples—through the schools.…Then there are hundreds of specialists in the endless ‘vocations’ who want Education to turn out practised engineers, affable hotelkeepers, and finished literary artists.…But to say this is to show up the folly of per- petually confusing Education with the work of the schools; the folly of believing against all evidence that by taking boys and girls for a few hours each day between the ages of seven and twenty-one, our teachers can ‘turn out’ all the human products that we like to fancy when we are disgusted with ourselves and our neighbors.” 3 Ibid. 4-6. 4 William Shakespeare. Hamlet. Act I, Scene iii. 5 MaryAnn Johnson. 1997. “Can a Liberal Arts Education Get Me a Job?” The Statesman. Cedar City: George Wythe College. 3.1.2. 6 Ibid. 7 Op. Cit. Barzun, xix. 8 Mortimer J. Adler. 1977. Reforming Education: The Opening of the American Mind. New York: Collier. 233. He continues: “They have turned the whole nation—so far as education is concerned—into a kindergarten. It must all be

192 A THOMAS JEFFERSON EDUCATION inhibits innovation, creates cultural rigidity, and fails to sway the thinking populace. In order to conquer this ingrained challenge and win the battle for freedom, three things must occur: 1) Widespread Sensus Plenior, 2) Successful Innovators Building Effective Mini-Factories and 3) Statesmen & Stateswomen. Unless we can accomplish these goals, freedom will be lost for future generations. Absorb this 53-minute recorded speech to learn what these mean and how you can contribute to the solutions.

About the Author

Oliver DeMille is the author of A Thomas Jefferson Education, FreedomShift and other books, articles and audios on education and freedom. He is the founder and former president of George Wythe University, and a founding partner of the Center for Social Leadership. Oliver is a popular keynote speaker, writer and business consultant. He is married to the former Rachel Pinegar. They have eight children. Connect with Oliver on Facebook, Twitter and at www.OliverDeMille.com.

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